


Space Cowboys

by nyghtrain



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, M/M, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-04-30 23:50:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5184383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyghtrain/pseuds/nyghtrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin and Sousuke, famous bounty hunters, find themselves on the hunt for the Orca. But when things don't go as expected. The bounty hunters realize that there is a lot more at stake than the expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Space Cowboys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hash/gifts).



The whale shark hovered in sector eight. It's sleek black body spotted with white ports made it close to a luxury ship. It probably wasn't the ideal craft for a team of bounty hunters but it was their pride and joy nonetheless. Inside the ship, Rin had his legs propped up on the dash as he rocked back and forth in his chair. He flipped through the illumiscreen looking at one bounty after the other.

"Boring, boring, not worth it, boring."

"What's boring about that one?" Sousuke asked as he handed Rin an energy drink.

Like Rin needed one. He felt like he was bursting with energy with nowhere to go. "Come on Sousuke. It's a grab and dash. We could do that one in our sleep."

Sousuke shrugged. "But it's worth 25,000 cirkes. That's worth it even if the job is run of the mill."

Rin hated to admit that Sousuke was right. They certainly weren't making any cirkes by sitting around on their asses. Suddenly the AI system came on and the image of a silver hair boy appeared. "Hello Senpai!"

Rin rubbed his hand down his face. "Ai, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Sorry, Senpai, but I've been programmed to call you that."

"And how do I program you not to say that?" Rin said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Oh! That's easy. You just have to-" And right on schedule Ai's voice grew distorted muffling the instructions.

Sousuke chuckled. "Your sister really got you."

Rin glared. "I'm not the only one she got."

Sousuke shrugged. "It's not so bad."

Ai's distortion cleared up and he was smiling at them. "Was that clear?"

"Perfectly," Sousuke said with a chuckle.

Ai smiled happily. "Thank you Samurai Sou."

Rin raised his eyebrow, but Sousuke just shrugged. Rin sighed. "Why did I have to get the genius hacker for a sister?"

"You should be happy you're so lucky," Gou said, her voice cutting through the ship as her image appeared on the screen next to Ai's.

"Sorry Princess Kou. I was just about to tell them you were on the line."

"It's fine Ai. I was just getting tired of hearing my brother whining."

"Hey!" Rin folded his arms. "Is that anyway to talk to your big brother?"

Gou's eyes lit up. "Oh that's a good one! I'll have to add that one to Ai's file."

"What?" Rin shouted.

Gou smiled brightly. "I'm just kidding, but that's not why I called you. I have a job. It hasn't been released on the circuit yet so you'll get the jump on it."

Rin leaned forward in excitement. The job had to be worth it for his sister to bring it up. Even Sousuke was leaning towards the illumiscreen with interest. Ai and Gou vanished and in their place sat an image of a man with golden brown hair and soft green eyes. He was tall and muscular, but didn't seem to hold the intimidating presence that Sousuke did."

"He's called the Orca," Gou said. "And he's wanted by Oceania Corp. He's considered extremely dangerous."

Rin squinted. He didn't look extremely dangerous.

"What did he do?" Sousuke asked, the rumble of his voice pressed against Rin's back and for a moment he realized just how close Sousuke was. He flushed, but didn't move away.

"He took out a quarter of Oceania Labs." A new picture popped up on the illumiscreen of Oceania Labs with part of it blown up.

Sousuke whistled while Rin stared. Then a toothy grin spread across his face. "Looks like this one is going to be fun. How much are they offering for him?"

The illumiscreen vanished and Gou appeared back on it, her eyes practically shining. "2,000,000 Cirkes. And they want him alive."

Rin jumped up from his seat, clutching the console dash. "Are you shitting me?"

Gou pouted. "Big Brother, don't swear."

"With that amount," Sousuke said, peering over his shoulder, his breath blowing across Rin's ear. "There are going to be a lot of bounty hunters going after him."

Gou grinned. "Better get to it! I'm sending over the file now."

Sousuke leaned back and Rin felt the thrumming in his heart calm down. Not that it had been beating that way because of Sousuke, of course, it was just excitement over the job. There was a beep and then Ai was back on the screen.

"The file has been sent and I have taken the privilege of changing it into an Gustatory for faster incorporation. I hope that's okay, Senpai."

Rin sighed. "It's fine."

A soft whoosh sound came from one side of the ship. Rin went over and picked up too clear strips that flashed every once in a while with lights. He handed one to Sousuke.

"Bottoms up," Rin said with a grin and then slid the tab on his tongue. It was like eating electricity. It surge through his mouth and immediately his senses seemed to explode. When they settled again, a surge of information was going through his head. It buzzed through him like something alive and Rin took it all in.

"Rin," Sousuke said.

"Already on it," Rin said as he sat in his seat and put in the coordinates for Sector 7 - High Castle City.

Rin grinned. This was going to be fun.

\----

Rin gritted his teeth as he scanned the crowd. His skimmer picked up people wearing biotech glamours, but none with bone structures that matched their job. He had to be here. Rin felt it, but they had been scourging all of High Castle City with no sign of him. Rin sighed and tapped his earlobe.

"Anything yet, Sousuke?" he asked.

"Not yet," Sousuke's voice said through the communicator. "You?"

"No, damn it. I was sure he would be here."

Sousuke grunted. "He is."

Rin relaxed a little at that. If Sousuke said he was here then he definitely was. It was one of the benefits of being on a team with Sousuke. When Sousuke was younger, his parents did a bioupgrade on him in order to help track him. It was a new thing that was created for rich people in case their kids were kidnapped. It was supposed to be irremovable and undetectable. Unfortunately the bioupgrade hadn't been ready for marketing as the company had suggested and had malfunctioned. Sousuke has completely lost his sense of direction and his body tended to null out tracers. It was his case that led to the galaxy ban on bioupgrades on children under ten. But with Sousuke there was a strange side effect. He had this strange knack of finding things. He would get ridiculously lost, but somehow manage to end up finding exactly what they were looking for. So if he said the Orca was here, then he probably was.

"Rin, about the Orca..."

"Yeah," Rin said, scanning the crowd.

"The files...don't you think there was something strange about them."

Rin hesitated. So it hadn't been just him. "Yeah, lots of gaps."

"Not even Gou could fill them either."

Rin chewed on his bottom lip. It wouldn't be the first job where they weren't told the whole story. Usually Gou managed to fill in whatever gaps they had with information she found, but even his sister hadn't been able to this time. Gaps plus a huge reward and all this with Oceania Corp. backing, that meant a special cause of trouble.

"I know. What are you thinking?" They could call off the job. He waited for Sousuke. If Sousuke thought they should drop it then they would.

There was a pause. "I got something."

Rin's eyes widened and excitement went through him. "Where are you?"

There was a long pause as Rin suspected Sousuke went to ask someone just where exactly he was. Rin rolled his eyes and then a moment later Sousuke was giving his location. Pushing away his earlier doubts, Rin rushed towards the location, luckily it wasn't far from where he was. As he got nearer to Sousuke's location, suddenly his vision got wobbly in one eye.

WARNING - FACE SKIM 638A-10 FAILURE

Then the skimmer died. "Fuck," Rin said and in annoyance took the skimmer contact out of his eye, tossing it into the reinforced clip on his belt. "My skimmer went down," Rin said to Sousuke. "Do you have eyes on him?"

"No," Sousuke said. "My skimmer went down as well."

Rin arched an eyebrow in surprise. So the area had interference. Rin glanced around, trying to be casual. He spotted Sousuke standing by a news orb for the Galactical Babble as he discretely took in the area. There was a cafe and a across from that a semi-natural park. He figured he should get a table and order something, so he wouldn't look too suspicious, but as he started to walk forward, suddenly something crashed into him. He looked down into the face of a crying little girl.

"My Pepoko!"

Rin stared at the little girl in horror as she clung to him and kept saying Pepoko, Pepoko over and over again. What was he supposed to do? He wasn't equipped for crying children. Bad guys who blew up buildings, yes. Rabid murders, hell yeah. But crying little girls, no.

"Uh..."

Then suddenly there was a man crouching down next to the girl. He looked like one of the maintenance men who helped to keep the city cleanup machines working. The man gave the girl a warm smile.

"Hello. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

The girl sniffed and nodded. Then she pointed to one of the artificial trees. "Pepoko is stuck."

The maintenance man turned and Rin couldn't help looking in the same direction. There, sitting in a tree was a Catail. The catail was out letting out distressed meows while electrical bursts spiraled around it. Rin knew it would be a pain to get down, especially without shock gloves.

Even so the maintenance man nodded and then turned to Rin. "Can you please keep an eye on her, while I get Pepoko."

Rin blinked and then found him nodding. The man gave him a bright smile, before turning and jogging towards the tree. Rin wondered what the hell he was doing. He was supposed to be going after a bounty, but his attention was torn away as the little girl gripped his hand.

"Will Pepoko be all right?"

"Um, I'm sure he will be."

The little girl smiled at him and vaguely Rin hoped her parents were on their way. The catail would have alerted her parents that they got separated. Rin turned back in the direction to see the maintenance man had managed to get Pepoko out of the tree and was now petting the feline. The catail seemed to calm down and the electrical bursts had stopped, but it was obvious by the slight grimace the maintenance man gave that he had gotten one last shock beforehand. Just as the maintenance man came over, the girl's mother hurried over. The girl released her grip on Rin.

"Mom!" She shouted and rushed into her mother's arm. The mother thanked Rin for finding her daughter, though Rin just shook his head. Technically the girl had found him. Then a moment later the girl shouted.

"Pepoko!" As the maintenance man handed her back her catail.

"Thank you," the girl's mother said gratefully as the girl cuddled her catail, which seemed only slightly annoyed at the affection.

"Oh no. Your glamour," the woman said worriedly and quickly offered to pay for a replacement.

Rin's head jerked up as the maintenance man shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

Glamours weren't uncommon, but that the maintenance man was wearing one in an area where skimmers were malfunctioning was just too much of a coincidence. Rin took a step forward, moving behind the man as the mother thanked him one last time.

Waiting for the mother and daughter to step away, Rin tapped against his palm, signaling for his hand shooter. A black glove began to form around his hand, with an energy shooter in the middle. He raised his hand, pushing it against the small of the man's back.

"Turn around, slowly."

The maintenance man stiffened and then slowly turned around. As he did the glamour finally failed and Rin sucked in a breath as he looked into the face of the Orca. The picture of him was nothing compared to real life. He had never seen eyes so green. The man was gorgeous, but it was more than that. There was a gentleness about him that made you want to relax in his presence. It made it almost impossible to believe this was the same man who had bombed one of Oceania's Labs. The same man who had just blown his cover by saving a little girl's pet.

"Please don't shoot me," the man said, his voice trembling.

"Don't move and it won't come to that," Rin said, keeping his voice rough, trying to combat the overwhelming feeling inside him that this was wrong.

The man gulped and nodded, clearly terrified.

Rin couldn't help feeling like a big bully. He tapped his earlobe. "Sousuke, I-"

Then everything stopped as something hard pressed against Rin's head. "Don't move."

Rin froze. There was no doubt that he had a blaster pressed against his head.

"Retract your hand shooter."

"Yeah, I don't think so." _Where the hell was Sousuke?_

"If you're hoping your partner will come and save you then don't."

Rin went cold. "What the hell did you do with Sousuke?"

"He's alive, but I won't be able to say the same for you if you don't retract your hand shooter."

"Haru!" the Orca said, panicked.

In answer the man shoved the blaster more firmly against Rin's head.

Haru? Haru Nanase! Rin's eyes widened and he swallowed. "Fuck." He retracted the hand shooter. He couldn't believe this. Haru Nanase was getting the jump on him. This wouldn't be the first time he competed with Haru for a job. He gritted his teeth, truly pissed off.

"You better not have hurt Sousuke," Rin gritted out.

Haru ignored him. "Makoto, run."

"But," the Orca said.

Haru must have given Makoto a look, because Makoto nodded. "Just don't hurt him, Haru." Then the man had turned and ran away.

"You know him," Rin said.

Behind him Haru stiffened. It was barely a movement, but Rin had learned that with Haru you only had these brief moments. Rin kicked back and ducked. Haru jerked and shot. The blast slammed against the ground as electric pulse slammed against a table.

"You fucker," Rin said as he pushed off the ground. "You were going to pulse me."

Haru had already recovered and pointed his blaster at Rin.

Rin dived behind a table and flipped it on its side. The shot slammed against the table, pushing Rin against the ground. Around him people started screaming as people began to run out of the area.

"Better than killing you," Haru said smugly.

Rin already had his hand shooter back out and laser blasts shot in Haru's direction. He could see Haru duck behind a building. Rin shot several blasts in his direction, trying to keep him caged. He quickly scanned the are, trying to find Sousuke. He caught sight of Sousuke 's feet sticking out from behind the cafe.

Taking a deep breath, Rin shot three more times, before making a dash to the alley. Rin just reached the alley as another electric pulse shattered the windows of the cafe.

"Shit!" Haru wasn't playing around.

Rin hurried to Sousuke who was still out, shooting behind him. He tapped his earlobe twice. "Ai, send shark teeth."

"Got it, Senpai!"

Then he was grabbing a tube from his clip. "Sorry Sou." He slammed the tube against Sousuke chest. Sousuke jerked up and his eyes snapped up.

"Haru's here," Sousuke said immediately.

"I noticed," Rin said.

Sousuke narrowed his eyes. "He pulsed me."

Rin winced. "Come on. Wait." Rin frowned. Haru should have been here by now. Then it dawned on him. "Like hell I'm letting him get away."

Sousuke climbed to his feet, his body wobbly. "I'll get him."

Rin hesitated at first. A part of him wanted to go after Haru, but he didn't want to risk their bounty getting away. He ignored the image of kind green that eyes flashed in his head. Rin nodded his head. "I'll get Makoto."

Sousuke frowned.

"The Orca! Just take care of Haru!"

Sousuke frowned like he was going to comment on the new name, but then nodded. "Thanks!" Rin said and then he was running through the alley and as he did he caught sight of Haru, turning the corner. Just as he went out of sight, two hovercycles roared up next to Rin. Each of them with jagged teeth designed on them. Rin climbed on one as Sousuke stepped out of the alley. Rin nodded in the direction Haru went then took off where he had seen Makoto go.

Rin grinned. "Like I'll let you get away." In a streak of red light, he shot down the street. He turned the corner where he last saw Makoto go and paused. He reached down and reinserted his Skimmer, hoping that interference from before was gone. Sure enough, it popped back online.

"Hell yeah." He was pretty sure Makoto's glamour was fried, but it would be easier to pick him out of a crowd this way.

He drove down the street, taking in the crowd, chewing on his bottom lip when he saw it, a bone structure match ducking into an alley. "Got you!"

His hovercycle revved up as he put on a burst of speed and slid down the alley, but as he turned down it the sound of a motor roared to life. He blinked in surprise as suddenly a green and silver hovercycle burst straight towards him. Rin jumpd to the side as a man in a green helmet jerked the hovercycle up the wall and then back down into the street.

TARGET FOUND

Rin gaped. That was Makoto? Things got a lot more interesting. Rin spun his cycle around and was shooting after the green one. Watching Makoto dodged through the street, skirting pedestrians as he tried to lose Rin. There was no doubt Makoto's driving was pure power, strong and fast. It was a challenge and Rin planned to meet it.

Rin was fast, but he also had finesse. He knew how to take a risk and he drove up the thin rail, using it to give him a clear path, catching up with Makoto. He was almost there, when Makoto turned and raised his hand. He had a blaster. Fuck! Makoto pointed to gun at him, but instead of pulling the trigger, he instead  redirected his blaster and shot at Rin's tire.

Rin popped his bike up and managed to miss the shot. As he did Makoto cut a corner and turned, speeding off. Rin let the bike dropped off the railing and followed after him. Now he was behind. He had under estimated him. If Makoto hadn't hesitated on shooting him, he would have probably ended up with a hole in his chest. But he had some tricks up his sleeve.

Rin zoomed forward, and raised his hand, his hand shooter going off. None of them hit Makoto, but that wasn't the plan. Instead interspersed with the shots he threw two silver disks. One landed behind Makoto and the other a little ahead to the side. Rin jerked to the side as they went off light flashed and Makoto swerved temporarily loosing control of his bike.

Rin took his chance, spurring his cycle forward, and then this time he shot and hit the wheel of Makoto's bike. The bike spun out of control and Makoto was forced to jump off as it crashed into a wall. Makoto rolled on the ground as Rin spun his bike around and raised his hand shooter.

"Put your hands up."

Makoto raised his hand. Rin parked his hovercycle and slid off. He walked over and with one hand still aimed on Makoto he yanked the helmet off. Makoto squinted up at him and then gave him a sheepish smile. Rin wondered how someone could look so fucking adorable after leading him on a high-speed chase.

"You really are a piece of work."

"N-not really," Makoto said giving him a soft smile.

And Rin's heart tried to melt, but he firmly ignored it. "Get up."

Makoto climbed to his feet. After he stood up, Rin reached over and grabbed the blaster he was wearing and if his hand lingered on Makoto's hip for a little bit, it was simply an accident. "Get on the bike."

Makoto looked at him in confusion, but did as he was told. As soon as he sat down manacles came out, slipping around Makoto's ankle, holding him in place. "Eh?" Makoto said in confusion.

"A modification I got designed into the bike to keep bounties in place," Rin said with a smug smile as he climbed on his bike. Usually the bike would push up a back slider and strap the bounty in place, but Rin couldn't bring himself to do it. He wasn't sure what made Makoto different, but as he revved the engine he looked over his shoulder. "Hang on."

Makoto nodded and slid his arms around Rin's waist. Heat spread across Rin's body at the feel of Makoto pressed against him. He tried not to think about that too hard. Instead he turned the bike around and headed to where he hoped Sousuke would be. It took longer to find Sousuke than he hoped, but in the end the destruction left by Sousuke and Haru proved enough of a trail. By the time he reached them, Sousuke and Haru were head-to-head, Haru with his blaster aimed at Sousuke and Sousuke with his hand shooter. They were glaring at each other and Rin had to wonder just how long they had been like this.

"Oy! Lower your gun! Unless you want something to happen to Makoto."

Haru didn't move an inch. "Oceania wants him alive."

Rin rolled his eyes. Time to play the bad guy. He tapped his hand, changing the setting on his hand shooter. A long thing blade formed in his hand. He pressed it towards Makoto's throat. He purposely didn't look at him. Makoto let out a small eep.

"Alive, but it didn't say anything about injured."

Haru twitched and then he lowered his gun.

Rin sighed in relief. "Good. Now-"

There was a loud blast as Sousuke pulsed Haru.

Makoto cried out. "Haru!"

Rin blinked. "Sousuke! What the hell?"

Sousuke shrugged. "He pulsed me first."

Rin turned to Makoto who was starring at Haru's prone form in horror. Rin crouched down next to him. "Makoto. He's okay. He's just unconscious."

Makoto looked at him, pain in his eyes. "Are you sure?"

Rin took his hand giving it a squeeze. "Yeah. Haru pulsed Sousuke and Sousuke is just fine. See."

Sousuke rolled his arm. "I'm not so sure about that. I feel like I got hit by a bus."

Rin rolled his eyes.

"Y-you're not just going to leave him, are you?" Makoto asked

That's exactly what Rin was planning to do. It wasn't like Haru hadn't done the same whenever they had been after the same bounty. Unfortunately, Rin made the mistake of looking into those pleading green eyes. He tried to remind himself he was a professional who didn't give into the request of his bounties.

"Sousuke get Haru."

"What?" Sousuke said, freezing in place. "We're not bringing him to the ship."

"Hell no, but I'm not going to leave him on the street."

Sousuke frowned and then sighed. "Fine."

They ended up taking Haru to a motel, one that didn't ask questions about why they were carrying an unconscious man. They checked him in, chained him to the bed, and left. Well after Sousuke also found himself at the end of Makoto's puppy dog eyes and ended up letting Makoto check on Haru to make sure he really was alive.

"Those eyes should be illegal," Sousuke mumbled.

"Yeah," Rin agreed. At least they were on the same page.

Afterwards they took Makoto back to the ship and got out of Sector 7 as quickly as possible. They had no intention of waiting around when Haru woke up. They put Makoto in a holding cell and Makoto didn't even fight them on it. It was like all the fight had gone out of him after Haru had been knocked out. It bothered Rin, but the whole thing bothered him.

He ran a hand through his hair as he headed back to the cockpit. There Sousuke was waiting for him. As soon as he stepped in Gou appeared on the screen. "Great job you two! I heard you even managed to beat Haru on collecting the bounty."

"I don't think Nanase was interested in getting the bounty," Sousuke said as he plopped down in a chair, crossing his arms.

Gou frowned. "What?"

Rin looked tot he side. "Gou, do me a favor and wait on calling this in."

"What?" Gou said and even Sousuke was giving him a look.

Rin shrugged. "I just want a bit of information first. Can you look into it? We have a new name - Makoto. Maybe have Kisumi do some leg work too."

"You're really serious about this?" Gou said, with interest but there was a hint of worry lacing her voice.

Rin looked away. "I just want to be sure. Something feels off."

Gou nodded. "I'll get on it. Just...be careful."

The illumiscreen closed out.

"Are you sure it's not just Makoto effecting your judgment?" Sousuke said.

Rin raised an eyebrow. "You just called him Makoto."

Sousuke frowned and looked away. "I know." He paused and then looked back at Rin. "But I'm not the one making this call."

"Thanks a lot," Rin said and slumped down in a chair. "I barely spoken to him, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. I just feel like we're missing something."

"Or it could be a ploy," Sousuke answered.

Rin thought of that and he didn't have an answer to it. So he said nothing at all.

\---

It wasn't unusual for Sousuke to cook. Rin preferred having cooked meals and Sousuke didn't mind cooking, so when they had the ingredients Sousuke would cook. So at first Rin didn't think anything of it. He started to get suspicious when their meal happened to be green curry. A little tidbit that had been collected in a certain someone's file. The final giveaway was when after they ate Sousuke carefully put a plate aside.

Rin pretended not to notice, but as soon as Sousuke left, Rin waited five minutes and then headed down to the holding cells where he found Sousuke opening up the cell to hand Makoto a plate of warm green curry.

"Thank you so much," Makoto's warm voice said.

Rin could almost see the way his eyes lit up. Rin strolled forward and stood behind Sousuke, about to make a sly comment when Makoto took a bite of his food and moaned. Rin's brain short-circuited and he could only stare as Makoto continued to let out pleased little groans as he ate. He finally dragged his eyes away to look at Sousuke who was staring at Makoto hungrily, his eyes dark and intense, and damn, when did Sousuke become so hot. Scratch that? Sousuke had always been hot.

Makoto ate the last bite and looked up. "Rin?"

Sousuke's jerked to look at Rin in surprise. He expected Sousuke to look guilty or at least caught in the act, but instead Sousuke's hungry look from before grew even hotter. Rin swallowed.

"Just came to check on you...and Sousuke."

"I'm fine!" Makoto said cheerfully, at least more cheerfully than a person who had been taken prisoner should probably be. "Sousuke was bringing me dinner. It was my favorite!"

"Is that so," Rin said with a smirk.

This time Sousuke looked away grunting.

Rin grinned. "I guess Sousuke always had a weak spot for green curry."

Sousuke glared at him, but Rin just laughed and walked deeper into the room.

"I actually wanted to ask you a question," Sousuke said, ignoring Rin.

Makoto blinked up in surprise. "Yes?"

"Did you blow up Oceania Labs?"

Rin winced at how blunt Sousuke was, but he didn't bother trying to stop him. He wanted to know as well.

The smile on Makoto's face dropped a little. He looked down at his empty plate. "I-I don't know."

"What?" Rin asked. "How do you not know?"

Makoto cringed a little. "I can't remember. There was so much happening and then there was a light and I blacked out."

Makoto looked distressed and he pulled his legs up, curling in on himself. Sousuke reached out and squeezed his knee.

"It's okay."

Makoto turned to him, giving him a soft smile. "Sorry. I-I think I should lie down. My head is hurting."

Sousuke nodded and took the plate before standing up and leaving the room. Rin stood there. There was so much he wanted to say, instead he took a step forward and crouched down. "Makoto?"

Makoto looked up at him.

Their eyes met and Rin was once again hit with the full force of those green eyes. He swallowed and then pulled out a chocolate bar from his inside pocket. "Here."

Makoto's eyes brightened. "Chocolate!"

"It'll help with the headache."

Makoto beamed at him. "Thank you Rin."

Rin flushed. "No problem."

He stood up and stepped out of the holding cell, shutting the door behind him. Sousuke was waiting for him.

"Chocolate, huh?"

"Shut it. You made him green curry." Rin ran a hand through his hair. "Shit, what are we doing?"

"Hell if I know," Sousuke said, sounding as bemused as Rin felt.

They both grew quiet. This was bad and they both knew it. They were basically courting a man they were supposed to turn into Oceania. Not only that, he had a two million cirkes bounty on him, so there was no way they could just let him go. If it wasn't them it would be someone else that turned him in.

"Screw it! I'm going to bed," Rin said. He would wait to see what Gou found out.

\---

Rin couldn't sleep. As much as he tried to push away his worries about Makoto they pounded at his brain. Eventually he climbed out of bed. He sat on the edge of his bed, before finally pushing himself up. He climbed to his feet and began walking to the cockpit. At least that's where he had planned to go, instead he found himself climbing down to the holding cells.

He halted when he realized what he was doing. This was definitely creepy of him. Makoto was his prisoner. What was he doing going to visit him in the middle of the night? He started to turn around when he heard a whimper. He froze. Then there was another one.

Rin hurried down the hall, stopping at Makoto's cell. Small whimpers and cries were pouring from Makoto. Rin bit his lip and then he was opening the cell. Inside Makoto was curled up in a ball, having a nightmare. His entire body was shaking. "Please, no, please."

Rin couldn't stand seeing him this way. He hurried over and gently shook him. Makoto's entire body tremble and his eyes snapped awake. "No!"

"It's me," Rin said, reaching out and grabbing his face. "Look at me, Makoto. It's me, Rin."

Makoto blinked at him and then his eyes finally focused on Rin. Rin felt him relax.

"Rin," he said softly. "I thought I was back-" Quickly he snapped his mouth shut and shuddered.

"Is he all right?"

Rin turned around, not that surprise to see Sousuke standing inside the doorway. "I don't know."

"I am. Sorry. I was just having a nightmare. You should all get back to sleep. I didn't mean to disturb you."

Rin looked at Makoto as he lay back down. He exchanged a look with Sousuke who quirked an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything else. Rin sighed.

"Come on," Rin said.

Makoto frowned. "What?"

Rin held out his hand. "Just come on."

Makoto looked confused, but tentatively took Rin's hand. Silently Rin wondered what he was doing, but he didn't pause. Instead he continued leading Makoto out of the holding cell and towards the personal rooms sector. He paused when he got there, but then turned and went into Sousuke's room.

"My room?" Sousuke inquired.

"Your bed is bigger."

Sousuke grunted, but said nothing else. Rin gently pushed Makoto into the bed.

"W-what's going on?"

"I'm tired and you're having nightmares. I'm guessing you rather not be in that cell, so you can sleep here."

Makoto still looked unsure.

"Sleep, that's all," Rin said.

Makoto nodded and then lay down.

Rin climbed into bed after him. After a moment, Sousuke sighed and did the same, sandwiching Makoto between them. There was no doubt that they were all tense and Rin wondered if they would simply end up awake the whole night. But after a while, Rin found himself drifting as the soft sound of Sousuke and Makoto's breathing filled the room. And despite the awkwardness of the situation, Rin felt warm and relaxed. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

\---

It took four days to get to Sector 9 and it had to be one of the most confusing and blissful four days Rin had ever experienced. For four days they had Makoto sharing their meals, laughing at their stories, and cuddling with them at night. Four days of Sousuke and Rin competing to see who could get Makoto to smile the most or laugh the loudest. Four days of Rin wondering how the hell he was ever going to give Makoto up.

In that time Gou and Kisumi had learned very little about what was going on with Makoto and Oceania. The only thing they could tell them was that Makoto was born out in a small town in Sector 1 and that around ten years old Makoto had vanished from all records, until now. The only person who could tell them what really happened wasn't talking. Whenever they tried to ask Makoto the light would leave Makoto's eyes and he would change the subject.

But now that was the least of their worries, because now that they had arrived in port Rin had to make a decision. He turned this over in his head as they got ready for bed. Makoto was already sitting in the middle while Sousuke just finished brushing his teeth and had sat on the side of the bed. Rin was pacing around the room, straightening things, doing everything but going near the bed.

"Rin," Makoto called out softly.

Rin froze and looked guiltily in Makoto's direction.

Makoto smiled and patted the bed.

Rin padded over and sat on the very edge of the bed. Suddenly he was wrapped in warm arms. He blinked up in surprise, only to look at Makoto's smiling face. "It's okay, Rin."

"How can you say that? Don't you blame us?"

Makoto shook his head. "You have been nothing but kind to me. You are simply doing your job."

Somehow that didn't make him feel better.

Then Makoto leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Come on Rinrin. Let's sleep."

Rin sat there stunned. He felt his entire face heat up.

"You look like a tomato," Sousuke said. There was a pause. "Rinrin."

"S-shut up!"

Sousuke just snickered that was until Makoto leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek as well. Then he was turning away, but Rin could see his ears grow red.

"Something wrong Sou-chan?" Rin teased.

"No," Sousuke said and then flopped down in bed, his back to them. "I'm tired."

Rin laughed.

Makoto just smiled and then snuggled down into bed. Rin did the same. He scooted forward and after a moment wrapped his arms around Makoto. Unlike the awkwardness from before, Makoto instantly melted into his arms. A moment later, Sousuke rolled over and did the same, until they were a bundle of arms and legs. They stayed like that until Makoto's soft breathing filled the room.

"Rin," Sousuke said.

"Yeah," Rin said and climbed out of bed, pulling away from Makoto as gently as possible.

They both stepped out of the room. Just as the door shut, Sousuke turned to him with a serious expression on his face.

"Have you decided?"

Rin glared at him. "Why is this all my decision?"

"You're always going on about being Captain."

"You're an asshole."

Sousuke smiled. "Probably."

Somehow that eased Rin's anxiety just a little. Then again Sousuke was always good at that. Things changed between him and Sousuke, well not changed as much as grew deeper. There had always been something there, but with Makoto by their side, that something had grown into heated glances and lingering touches.

"I don't think I can do it," Rin said. "I can't give him up."

"Good," Sousuke said.

"What?" Rin said, looking at Sousuke like he had grown a second head.

"I said good. Saves me the trouble of hiding Makoto away."

Rin blinked. "What? You were planning to kidnap him?"

"Only if you had decided to give him to Oceania." He shook his head. "Sometimes I wake up and I can make out him mumbling. I think they were experimenting on him."

Rin felt his stomach fall at the thought. "Shit."

"Yeah."

"So what do we do now? Any ideas?" Rin asked.

Sousuke opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sound of the alarm. Immediately Ai popped up on an illumiscreen.

"Intruders! They have entered through the cargo bay and are moving fast."

"What the fuck?" Rin said as the screen switched to show the intruders running through the ship. "How the hell did they get through the defenses?"

"They seem to know the layout of the ship and-" There was a buzzing sound as Ai vanished.

Before Ai completely disappeared they saw the intruders heading down to the holding cells. It was clear what they were after.

"Get Makoto out of here. I'll buy us some time," Sousuke said

"Like hell I'm leaving you?" Rin shouted.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Then Sousuke leaned over and grabbed him. Very firmly he kissed him hard. For a moment Rin froze and then he was giving back as much as he got. They pulled away panting.

"Wow," Sousuke said then grinned. Then he turned around and started running down the hall.

"You better come back, asshole!" Rin shouted after him.

"Right," Sousuke called back.

Rin forced himself to look away and hurried back into the bedroom. Makoto was already awake, sitting in the middle of the bed, his eyes wide.

"Come on, we need to go" Rin said

Makoto scrambled off the bed and Rin took his hand, pulling him out of the room and across the hall to his own room. There he grabbed his hand shooter and some back up items. He came across a blaster and tossed it to Makoto.

Makoto fumbled with it before gripping it. He looked down at it in shock. It must be strange to have his captors handing him a gun he supposed, but Rin didn't have time to explain that Makoto was no longer their prisoner. Rin put his Skimmer in and then tapped his earlobe twice.

"Ai, you still alive?"

"I'm here, Senpai!"

Rin couldn't help feeling relief. "Are you able to access my skimmer?"

There was a pause and then Ai appeared in his vision. "Hello Senpai! Gou's modifications are still working."

Rin nodded. "Can you find me an exit?"

There was a loud boom and the ship rocked. Makoto clutched at Rin's shirt and let out a whimper. Rin ran a soothing hand down Makoto's arm.

"What the hell was that?"

"The intruders are bombing the ship."

Rin swallowed. What the hell was going on?

"Is Sousuke okay?" Makoto asked, worry clear on his face.

There was a pause. Then Ai popped up. "His vitals are good. He has managed to take most of the intruders down by moving one of their bombs."

"Good, tell him to get the hell out of there and find us an exit!"

"On it, Senpai!" A moment later a map of the ship with a route popped up.

Rin grabbed Makoto's hand and dragged him out of the room. They started running. Ai had placed the intruders in red on his display, so whenever they came across one Rin was ready for them, shooting and ducking, while managing to keep Makoto out of the most of it. They crossed the ship, Rin both grateful for how large the ship was, since only a few had made it over this way yet, and cursing it since it was taking forever to get out.

Two red blips appeared on the screen around the corner. Rin raised his hand blaster and turned the corner, shooting, when another bomb went off, rocking the ship and throwing Rin off balance. It was enough and one of the intruders shot. Rin used his momentum to fall hard to the side, but the blaster shot still hit him in the side.

Rin screamed as he hit the ground. Gritting his teeth, he tried to move fast, but the ship rocked again and he slid down. "Makoto run," Rin shouted as he turned around and came face-to-face with a blaster.

_This is it, huh?_

There was a shot and then the intruder was slump to the ground. Rin swiveled his head to get a look and the second intruder was also down and standing next to him was Makoto, his blaster raised. Makoto looked terrified as he hurried to Rin, pulling him to his feet.

"Rin! You're hurt!"

"I'll be okay," Rin said or at least he hoped he would. "We need to get out of here."

Makoto nodded and half carried Rin as they ran with Rin telling him where to go. All the time, Makoto held out his blaster, taking down any intruder he came across like a professional. Rin was sure if he wasn't bleeding to death and trying to run for his life, he would definitely think this was hot.

Then they were out of the ship and heading towards a point on their maps. There they were met with Sousuke and their two hovercycles. As soon as Sousuke saw Rin his eyes darkened.

"He was shot," Makoto said quickly, his breathing panicked.

"We'll have to get him to a doctor."

"I know one," Rin winced out. "But I can't drive like this and Sousuke's shit with directions."

"I'll drive. Just tell me where to go," Makoto said.

Sousuke and Rin nodded and it said something to how much they trusted Makoto that they never even hesitated. Makoto carried Rin to his hovercycle and Rin quickly put in his code so it wouldn't automatically lock Makoto in place. He tapped in the directions.

Makoto hesitated, biting his lip. "Are you going to be able to hold on?"

"I'll have to," Rin gritted out.

Makoto looked unsure, but helped Rin get on the bike, but instead of sliding on in front of him, Makoto slid on behind him, pulling Rin against his chest. The position was awkward, but Rin was less likely to fall off in case he passed out.

Then Makoto was starting the hovercycle and they were off. They zoomed through the street leaving the burning hulk of their whale shark behind them. He wasn't sure how long it took them to get to the backalley doctor, but next thing he knew Makoto was carrying him as Sousuke banged on the door.

Dr. Rei opened the door and stared at them in shock, before hustling them inside. Makoto laid Rin down as Rei hovered over him. "My apologies Matsuoka-san, but this is going to hurt."

Then Rin blacked out. When he came too, Rei's place was completely quiet. He was lying in a bed and curled next to him was Makoto. His eyes closed tightly and his face pressed against Rin's chest. Rin couldn't help a soft sigh from passing his throat as he ran his fingers through Makoto's hair.

"He saved my life," Rin said as he turned to look at Sousuke.

Sousuke was sitting across from the bed, staring down at Rin.

"I'll have to thank him."

"You saved our lives, too. What you did back there."

Sousuke sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm going to miss the Whale shark."

"Yeah," Rin said.

"I managed to catch one of the guys who broke in," Sousuke said and the way he said it made Rin stiffened. "Oceania sent them. I guess they got tired of waiting."

Rin swore. "How did they even know we had Makoto?"

Sousuke shrugged.

"We can't stay here long. Who knows if they're going to place a bounty on us," Rin said.

"I know, but we at least should wait until morning. You need to rest," Sousuke said.

Rin wanted to insist they leave now, but with Makoto curled up against him it was hard to think of waking him. "All right, but early."

Sousuke nodded and Rin lay back down. His eyelids felt painfully heavy as he drifted back to sleep.

\---

When Rin woke again it was to feel cold metal pressed against his temple. "Don't move."

Rin's eyes snapped open as he recognized the voice as Haru's. He gaze went to Sousuke's to see another gun pointed at his head, this one by Dr. Rei.

"Fuck, you turned us in."

Rei tilted his head up, dignified. "Haru-senpai is an old friend of mine."

Rin balled up his fist, but Haru shoved the gun harder against his temple. "This time it's not set to pulse."

Rin froze. Haru sounded pissed and Rin knew him well enough to know he wasn't bluffing. The tension in the air skyrocketed as there was the sound of shuffling as Makoto woke up. He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What's going on?"

He blinked several times and then his eyes widened. "Haru! You're okay!"

Haru seemed to relax at the sight of Makoto. "Are you?"

Makoto nodded rapidly. "I'm fine, Haru-chan."

A small smile curled Haru's lips. "Good."

"Haru," Makoto said with a frown. "You don't need to point at gun at Rin and Sousuke."

Haru stared at him. "They took you prisoner."

"I know, but they have been very kind. Please, Haru, you can let them go."

Rin sat completely still as Haru stared at Makoto. Some sort of silent communication went on and then reluctantly Haru lowered his gun. Rin let out a breath. A few seconds later Rei also lowered his gun.

Makoto turned back to Rin, his gaze flicking down at his wound. "Are you okay?"

Rin nodded. "I think so." He sat up with a grimace. "Rei sewed me up pretty good."

"Of course, though I suspect you'll be still weak from the blood loss. Still we should get out of here. It'll be dangerous for us to stay any longer."

"Agreed," Haru said. "I'll be taking Makoto."

"Like hell you will," Rin said and Sousuke had shot to his feet.

Haru narrowed his eyes and his blaster was back in his hand. "I'm not letting you take Makoto back to Oceania."

"We're not planning to," Sousuke said. "But we're not leaving him.

Haru stared at Sousuke, before pointedly looking away and turning to Makoto. "Are they telling the truth?"

"We are," Rin shouted. "We had planned to let him go in the morning, before our ship was attacked by Oceania."

"Oceania attacked us?" Makoto asked, his eyes wide.

Haru's face grew grim. "We need to leave, now."

"I will guide you to a safe place," Rei said. "Nagisa-kun already had one set up for us."

Makoto's face brightened at that.

Haru looked at Rin and Sousuke as if trying to decide. "You can come."

"Thanks," Rin said sarcastically.

Haru ignored him.

From there Rei opened a hidden panel in the floor. All of them climbed down, Rin with the help of Makoto and Sousuke. Rei led the way, guiding them through a mixture of tunnels until they reached an underground port. Rei punched in a code and the shell opened.

Inside was like walking into another dimension. It was like a penthouse suite, spacious, well decorated, and filled with furniture. Makoto guided him to sit down in the most comfortable couch on the planet.

"Shit, you guys really know how to pick out a hideout," Rin said

Makoto settled down beside Rin and Sousuke joined Makoto on the other side. Makoto smiled up at Sousuke and gave his arm a squeeze.

"It's all thanks to Nagisa-kun," Rei said proudly, "though I was the one who decorated it. Something you should be grateful for. If Nagisa-kun had it his way the entire suite would be salmon pink."

Haru ignored Rei and went to a machine and tapped it. A bottle of water shot out. Haru opened it and took a large gulp. "Makoto, want anything?"

"Tea?"

Haru nodded and pushed another button, then walked over and handed a bottle of tea to Makoto, before sitting down.

"Oh no, nothing for me, Haru. Thanks for offering," Rin said.

Haru ignored him.

Rin wondered if there was a more irritating person in the galaxy.

"Haru-senpai! We shouldn't be rude to our guests," Rei said.

Sousuke snorted at this. Rei had been the cause of them waking up with guns to their heads after all. Something he seemed to have forgotten.

"Matsuoka-san, Yamazaki-san, may I offer you something to drink?"

"Coke, if you have it," Rin said and Sousuke nodded.

"Of course we have it," Rei said proudly, "Nagisa-kun makes sure we have the best in stock."

Rin frowned. "Who is this Nagisa-kun?"

"Nagisa Hazuki. Surely you've heard of him," Rei said, pushing up his glasses with a smug smile.

Rin's eyes widened. "Weirdo Billionaire Nagisa Hazuki?"

Haru snorted.

Makoto frowned. "Nagisa isn't that bad. He's just likes to do things his own way."

"He released a hundred penguins in the middle of High Castle and stated they were playing hide and seek," Rin deadpanned.

Makoto scratched his chin. "Well, I guess his behaviors can be a little eccentric."

"He just really loves penguins," Rei said. "And he wanted to share that joy with others. Though I did try to warn him of the impracticality of the situation. Butterflies would have been much better and more aesthetically pleasing."

"Uh huh," Rin said.

Their conversation was interrupted as a giant illumiscreen popped up and Nagisa himself appeared. The blond smiled down on them.

"Mako-chan you made it!"

Makoto smiled up at Nagisa. "Yes, I did."

"Then Plan save the princess is complete! Oh, but what's this? Sou-chan and Rin-chan are here too?"

Rin sputtered. "Rin-chan?"

Sousuke frowned.

Haru shrugged. "Makoto insisted on bringing them."

Nagisa looked at Makoto in confusion and then his eyes brightened. "Oh! It looks like Mako-chan have tamed the savage dragons in the end."

Makoto flushed. "Nagisa!"

Nagisa giggled. "It's okay, Mako-chan. There's room for two more. After all I have a entire planet."

Makoto flushed. "I don't know if Rin and Sousuke want to come live on your planet."

"They don't? But my planet is the best and that's where Mako-chan will be. Besides, Oceania has already placed a bounty on them."

The illumiscreen split showing a picture of Rin and Sousuke, each with 500,000 cirkes reward under their name. Dead or alive was listed.

"Fuck," Rin said and Sousuke nodded. They were screwed.

Makoto's face grew pale. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Rin and Sousuke immediately turned to Makoto, each grabbing one of his hands. "This isn't your fault, Makoto. If anyone is to blame it's Oceania."

Sousuke nodded. "Besides we were the ones that decided to take on this job."

"But you didn't know what you were getting into. You still don't."

"Then maybe you should tell them," Nagisa said, his voice growing serious. "Oceania Corp. is dangerous. They should know what they're getting into."

Rin could admit he had been wondering the same thing himself.

Makoto looked at Haru, but Haru simply shrugged.

"Up to you."

Makoto sighed and then his face grew determined. "All right, but later. Rin still needs to rest."

\---

Later ended up being after Rin had slept for a good amount of hours, Rei checked his wound, and then all of them had a late lunch of mackerel prepared by Haru. After lunch, Makoto had been pulled away for a check-up with Rei. Rin found that odd, but Makoto had assured him it was all right and since Haru didn't protest Rin let it go.

They were cleaning up the dishes, when Haru turned to Rin and Sousuke. "You should leave."

Sousuke tensed at his side. Rin stiffened. "No."

"You'll hurt Makoto."

"No we won't!" Rin said, balling up his fist.

"He's been through enough."

"We're not going to hurt him!" Rin said, angryily. "We wouldn't be here if we were."

"You don't know that for sure. You don't know anything about him," Haru said coldly.

"We know enough," Sousuke said.

Haru leveled his gaze at them. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Rin said firmly, feeling his blood boiling.

"How?" Haru said.

"Because we love him," Rin said, slamming his fist against the counter.

Haru stared at him and then turned to Sousuke.

"Yeah," Sousuke said.

Haru looked at the both of them and then sighed. "Fine." He turned back to washing the dishes.

"Fine? That's it?" Rin said in disbelief.

Haru shrugged. "You can stay."

Rin growled, but Sousuke put his hand on Rin's shoulder. "So you're giving us your blessing then?"

Rin blinked. "Wait, what?"

Haru didn't say anything, just kept washing the dishes.

Rin stared and stared and then a smile spread across his lips. He started to laugh.

 

\---

 

When Sousuke and Rin headed back to the room designated for them, they found Makoto waiting for them. He was sitting in the middle of the bed, nervously gripping his pants. Rin and Sousuke exchanged looked and immediately climbed into bed, tugging Makoto down with them. Makoto let out a small squeak, but soon settled down between them. For a while, they all simply laid there, listening to the sound of their breathing, intertwined in warmth. Then Makoto began to speak.

"When I was ten years old I was stolen by Oceania Corp. They would take children from small towns in distant sectors. They would take us and experiment on us. Some of us made it and some of us didn't. I became a favorite of theirs, because my body was good at enduring. Good stock they called it," Makoto said with a harsh laugh.

Rin tightened his arms around him.

"I grew up there, underneath their training. I managed to be good at what they taught me, but I lacked the mental fortitude to become the weapon they were trying to shape me into."

"You were too kind," Sousuke said.

"Weak is what they called it," Makoto said.

"Kindness isn't weakness," Sousuke said.

Makoto smiled gratefully at him. But his smile wavered as he continued. "I would have been disposed of, but one of the higher ups grew fond of me and decided to keep me on as a pet. It was when I was being transported into their custody that everything happened. Haru had found me again. He had been looking for me for a long time it seems. See, we had grown up together and the day I was kidnapped he was with me, but he managed to get away. He infiltrated the Labs and managed to get assigned as a guard.

We were reunited and the day of the transportation we made a break for it. Things didn't go as plan and Haru was hurt. It triggered something in me. I'm not sure what happened, but Haru says a light burst from me, throwing everyone back and creating a crater. The light protected Haru and me and from there Haru got us out. That's most of it."

It was a lot to take in and Rin was sure there were a lot of details Makoto hadn't mentioned.

Makoto took a deep breath. "I talked to Nagisa. He said he could set up new identities for you both, even new faces, not just a glamour either. I'm sorry about what happened. I wish I could give you your old lives back, but this way you can start over. Nagisa even agreed to-"

"No," Rin said, cutting Makoto off. "We're not leaving you."

"But it's no good to stay with me. I've ruined everything for you and whatever experiments Oceania has done to me has made me a monster."

Rin sat up and stared down at Makoto, his eyes flashing. "You're not a monster."

"I-"

"No you're not!" Rin shouted.

Makoto flinched and looked away.

Rin reached down and brushed his fingers against Makoto's cheek.

"Makoto. You're not a monster." He swallowed. "You're simply the man I fell in love with."

Makoto's head spun to face Rin in shock. "Y-you love me."

Rin smiled. "Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I fell in love with you the moment you helped that girl saved her pet."

Makoto flushed.

"Sappy," Sousuke said.

Rin rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous I got to say it first."

Makoto blinked. "What?"

Sousuke smiled at Makoto and nodded. "I love you."

Makoto's cheek got even redder and he covered his face. "I love you too. Both of you."

"No fair! You can't hide and say that," Rin said, grinning widely as he grabbed one of Makoto's hands and Sousuke grabbed the other, pulling his hands away.

Makoto was bright red and his green eyes gleamed with unshed tears and joy as he looked at both of them. "I love you Rin, Sousuke."

Rin let out a loud shout as Sousuke bent down and kissed Makoto. When Sousuke pulled away Makoto looked dazed.

"My turn," Rin said and then he was pressing his lips against Makoto's.

Makoto let out a soft moan and Rin couldn't help pulling him closer as he buried his hand into his hair. It was perfect and it became even more perfect when he felt Sousuke pull both of them against him. The kiss broke and they both stared at each other.

They couldn't stop smiling.

\---

They managed to make it to Rockhopper Planet with only two run-ins with Oceania Corp. Soon they were docking in Haru's sleek silver spaceship, Saba, and Rin was starting to wonder if all Makoto's friends were this strange. Who named their ship Saba and a planet Rockhopper? Makoto had pointed out that Rin and Sousuke had called their own ship Whale Shark. Rin decided to ignore that. Whale shark had been a cool name.

A week after they had settled in, Nagisa called them all into a meeting.

"Welcome to Rockhopper! I hope you're enjoying your stay."

"Yeah, we're enjoying it," Rin said with a toothy grin as he looked in Makoto and Sousuke's direction. Sousuke simply grunted in agreement while Makoto flushed red.

"So we've heard," Haru said bluntly.

This only made Makoto flush harder. "Haru!"

"I'm so glad," Nagisa said, clapping his hand. "But still I was worried this all might be a bit boring for you all. Haru-chan, Sou-chan, and Rin-chan are so used to chasing after bad guys and having gun battles. Pewpew."

"It's fine," Rin said quickly, looking over at Makoto's worried face.

Nagisa ignored Rin like he never said anything. "So I got to thinking how I could help. Then an idea came to me, well with the help of a friend."

Suddenly the illumiscreen came out and on it was Gou. "Hello."

"Gou! What's going on?"

Nagisa grinned devilishly. "Gou-chan-"

"It's Kou."

"Have been discussing things and we thought it was about time that someone brought Oceania down and who better than a genius hacker, three of the worlds best bounty hunters, and the man who knows all Oceania secrets. Of course with the help of the galaxy's sweetest Billionaire. What do you think?"

Rin felt a wave of excitement at the idea and he turned to look at Sousuke and he could see the glint in his eye. Still, he didn't want to drag Makoto-

"Do you really think we can do it?" Makoto asked.

Rin looked at Makoto in surprise and his face with set in determination.

"There's a lot that Oceania has tried to cover up and their powerful," Gou said. "But they have their weaknesses. It'll be near impossible, but not impossible."

Sousuke turned to Makoto, worried. "Are you sure?"

Makoto nodded. "I wasn't the only one in those labs. I want to stop more children from being taken and having to live through what I lived through."

Rin felt a swell of love go through him as he saw Makoto's passionate face and he turned back and nodded. "We'll do it."

Nagisa swiveled towards Haru. "Haru-chan?"

Haru shrugged, but his blue eyes glimmered. "Okay."

"All right! Team Penguin has been formed!"

"What? That's a stupid name," Rin said.

Nagisa pouted. "Penguins are the best."

"Sharks are better," Rin said.

"Hmmm, how about..."

Rin waited for him to say something about mackerel.

"Team Free."

Rin blinked and then frowned. "I guess that's not completely terrible."

Makoto leaned into Rin, resting his head on his shoulder. "I like it." He turned his head. "What do you think Sousuke?"

Sousuke shrugged and then abruptly lay down across their laps. "It's okay."

Makoto laughed while running his hand through Sousuke's hair.

"You guys are so cute!" Nagisa said, practically bouncing.

Rin flushed, but he smiled. "Whatever. So what exactly is Team Free going to be doing?"

Nagisa grinned and then launched into several ideas he and Gou came up with.

Well he listened, Makoto slid his hand into his and squeezed it. The three of them shared a look. Things weren't going to be easy, but it was okay, because they would be together.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun with this prompt and I hope I did it justice. I had so much planned, but I wanted to make sure I got it completed by the deadline, so I kept it as short as I could, well if you consider 10k+ short. I hope you enjoyed!


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